US
Astronaut Peggy Whitson, KC5ZTD, was the guest of honor
via ham radio August 7 of more than 100 youngsters
attending space camp in Belgium. The direct contact
between NA1SS aboard the ISS and ON4ESC
at the Euro Space Center, which is hosting the camp, was
arranged and coordinated via the Amateur Radio on the
International Space Station (ARISS) program. "In the
auditorium on a big screen, the children saw the ISS
approaching Europe from over the Atlantic Ocean,"
said ARISS Vice Chairman Gaston Bertels, ON4WF.
"They had been introduced to ham radio on the ISS,
and now--a half an hour before the contact--they were
putting dozens of questions to the ARISS representative
and eagerly gathering answers."

US Astronaut Peggy Whitson, KC5ZTD, was the guest of
honor via ham radio August 7 of more than 100 youngsters
attending space camp in Belgium. The direct contact
between NA1SS aboard the International Space Station and
ON4ESC at the Euro Space Center (Transinne/Redu), which
is hosting the camp, was arranged and coordinated via the
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS)
program.

ARISS Vice
Chairman Gaston Bertels, ON4WF, said that because the
youngsters spoke either Dutch or French, a computer
program was used by
those translating the astronaut's English, which
displayed the
translations on a screen. Campers ranged in age from 8 to
15.

Because the youngsters spoke either Dutch or French, a
computer program was used by those translating the
astronaut's English into Dutch and French to display the
translations on the screen, Bertels said. Campers ranged
in age from 8 to 15.

Among other things, Whitson talked about what got her
interested in becoming an astronaut. "When I was
nine, I watched Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walk on
the moon," she told the youngsters, "and I
thought that it would be a very special job to be able to
be an astronaut."

Bertels said two TV stations with national coverage as
well as major newspapers covered the event.

Voice recording I made
in Belgium of ISS (NA1SS)[[[DHT_Wav]]]Voice
recording made of ISS by MM5ISS and heard by me at /A
with only a 5/8 antenna that was mounted temporary inside
the resident house in Houffalize/Belgium
[[[ISS 03.07.2002]]]

A copy from the European ARISS website :http://www.ariss-eu.org/ [[[[http://www.ariss-eu.org/Shargin_22_10_2004.mp3]]]]
Friday October 22nd 2004, a group of schoolchildren
visiting the Science Exhibition in Hasselt, Belgium
had a Spacetalk with Cosmonaut Yuri Shargin onboard
the International Space Station. The radio contact
was established by the ARISS telebridge station
ON4ISS at 08:38 GMT when the ISS rose over the
horizon.
The pupils of the primary school
Zonnebloem had prepared 20 questions and
13 could be answered by the Cosmonaut before the ISS
went over the horizon. The signals from Space were
loud and clear. An audio recording of the Spacetalk
is appended to this News Bulletin archived on the
ARISS-Europe website.
A hundred schoolchildren and teachers witnessed the
event which was covered by a radio station, a TV
station and two widespread newspapers.
ON4ISS, the ARISS telebridge station, was operated by
Philippe ON5PV. This was its maiden run.
ARISS has telebridge stations in the USA, in Hawaii,
in Australia, in South Africa and presently also in
Europe.
The ARISS School Contacts operated by Yuri Shargin
inaugurate an educational outreach cooperation with
Energia, the Russian Space Agency. Let us express the
wish that it will be sustained and fruitful.
Gaston Bertels, ON4WF
ARISS Europe chairmanhttp://www.ariss-eu.org/